Confidential Lover

Chapter 1

Harry sat silently by himself, waiting for Ron and Hermione to return back to their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He felt greatly at peace, with no one bothering him and his returning to Hogwarts to finish a school year that was missed. After the war last year, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Hermione had almost decided to travel around the world to do research on other wizarding communities, but she ended up thinking that one last year of schooling would be best. Ron only decided to come back last minute, not wanting anything to do with school ever again, but once he found out Harry and Hermione were continuing, he couldn't say no. 

The compartment door slid open and Hermione entered, followed by an irritated Ron. They both sat down across from Harry, Hermione with a graceful settle and Ron with a somewhat loud plop. Harry stifled a laugh as Ron's face got redder and redder.

"What happened?" Harry asked, still holding back a laugh. 

Ron was quick to reply. "Malfoy happened, that's what." He slid forward in his seat. "I have a plan. Let's sneak over to Malfoy's compartment and set all of their stuff on fire."

At this, Harry actually did laugh. Not because he thought Ron's reaction was funny, but because he would love to see the outcome of setting Malfoy and his lowlife friends on fire.

"What did he do?" Harry replied, amusement still present in his face.

"He hexed me in front of everyone on the bloody train! D'you know how embarrassing that is?" he said incredulously.

"Just let it go, Ronald. Honestly, he's done it to almost everyone." Hermione cut in. Even though they were dating, you can't deny that Hermione is just as strict with him as she always was. The train started to move and the three of them changed the subject to their schedules and classes for their eighth year.

"What's this?" Harry pointed to the last class on his schedule, one which he's never heard of.

"IRS, you mean? It stands for Intimate Relationship Studies. It's required for all eighth year students. Ron and I are in it, too." Hermione answered.

"But what is it?" Harry asked again with more emphasis in hopes of Hermione catching on.

She shifted in her seat, glancing quickly at Ron and then staring down at her schedule. "Well, you get partnered up by the teacher and you spend the year studying intimate relationships and the affects they have on people. Eventually we start doing labs and stuff." she replied, putting air quotes up when she said 'labs'. Of course, Harry and Ron still didn't know half of what she was talking about, but they would find out soon enough.

After what felt like a long journey, the train finally stopped, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione claimed a thestral-drawn carriage and started their way up to the castle. It was a bittersweet moment, as the three of them knew this would be the last time they would ever be sitting here, traveling up the path. 

Before they knew it, the carriage arrived at the castle and they jumped out, filing behind everyone else and making their way into the Great Hall for the sorting and feast. The sorting hat sang its song and sorted the first years, with a good handful of them being put into Slytherin.

"Just what we need, more Malfoys than there already are." Harry bitterly complained. 

Hermione shrugged. "It's our last year, Harry, don't let them ruin it."

"It's a little hard to do that when they're always shouting things at you." he said, though he knew Hermione was right. As long as he stayed as far from Malfoy as possible, this year shouldn't be close to as bad as it usually was. 

***

Harry was following closely behind Ron and Hermione, awkwardly third-wheeling as the couple planned out a time for them to be alone together. The IRS classroom was quite large, which shocked Harry, as he knew that a lot of his classmates were killed in the war or not returning to Hogwarts.